The probe into an alleged multibillion dollar fraud by Texas financier Allen Stanford deepened Thursday as governments took action against the cricket impresario's overseas banks and panicked investors tried desperately to withdraw their funds.

Two days after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Stanford, 58, of perpetrating "a fraud of shocking magnitude," officials were still in the dark about his whereabouts -- as were close members of his family.

US officials have not yet charged Stanford with a crime, although the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it is "in contact" with securities regulators about the alleged 9.2 billion dollar fraud.

While federal agents were involved in the seizure of his US offices, they are not currently trying to locate the elusive billionaire.

"We would need to have an arrest warrant to track him down and no such warrant exists at this time and no agency has made a request to have us go looking for him," Steve Blando, a spokesman for the US Marshals Service told AFP.

A US judge has frozen Stanford's assets and investigators are working to sort out who the money belongs to.

"His presence is not necessary in order to proceed with the civil case," said Securities and Exchange Commission spokesman John Nester.

Stanford's 81-year-old father James told the Houston Chronicle he had no idea where his son could be but said he did not believe "my son would run."

"I'd spoken to him a week or so ago -- he'd called -- about problems with the business climate in general, but nothing of this magnitude," he said.

"I cannot imagine, I cannot believe, I will not believe what is being alleged actually happened."

In the Caribbean and Latin America, authorities sought to quell fears among depositors who formed long queues outside local branches.

Five Latin American countries have already taken action against companies owned by Stanford, 58, whose wealth management and financial services group stretched across the world but was particularly successful in Latin America and the Caribbean, where it lured investors with promises of big returns that never materialized.

Stanford Investment Bank claims to serve 30,000 clients in more than 130 countries while the umbrella Stanford Financial Group has more than 50 billion dollars "under advisement," according to the SEC complaint.

Faced with a run on a local subsidiary by panicked Venezuelans, Caracas "made a decision to intervene and to immediately sell" financial companies owned by Stanford, Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said Thursday.

Stanford Bank Venezuela, which has 15 branches in the country, already has received offers from interested parties, he said.

Peru's securities regulator on Thursday suspended operations for 30 days at the local office of Stanford Financial Group, promising it was working to secure investors' funds.

In Panama, banking authorities took over "administrative control" of a local Stanford branch after nervous clients made massive withdrawals of deposits on Wednesday.

Ecuador suspended a Stanford affiliate from operating in the Quito stock exchange for 30 days or until the company resolves the claims.

The Stanford affiliate in Colombia agreed on Wednesday to suspend its activities on the Bogota stock exchange. Banking authorities said they had taken steps to "protect customers and investors in the entity and to preserve confidence in the stock market."

On the tax haven island of Antigua, hundreds of people queued up Wednesday at the Stanford-owned Bank of Antigua to withdraw funds despite authorities' assurances their accounts were not in danger.

For the past two decades, Stanford has been based in the Caribbean, where he built a reputation as a cricket patron.

Stanford allegedly ran the most high-profile fraud since Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff was charged in a 50-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme in December.

The scandal has caused huge embarrassment in English cricket with the bosses of the national association facing calls to resign after they signed a now unraveling deal with Stanford to stage matches in Antigua and England.

LONDON (Reuters) - England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke remained defiant over the Allen Stanford scandal on Wednesday, saying the idea of resigning over the affair was not on the agenda.
Clarke, who has just been re-elected, has been criticised in the British media and by some people within the sport over his role in England's participation in last year's $20 million winner-takes-all Stanford Super Series.

LONDON (Reuters) - England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive David Collier said on Sunday he would not resign over the Allen Stanford scandal.
Collier and ECB chairman Giles Clarke have come under fire in the media and from within the game over English cricket's association with Texas billionaire Stanford, who has been accused of involvement in an $8 billion securities fraud.

Chief executive David Collier defended the England and Wales Cricket board (ECB) on Sunday in the wake of criticism over its dealings with Allen Stanford.
Collier insisted he would not be resigning and stressed that he believed he and the ECB's actions in relation the Texan billionaire were beyond reproach.

Former England cricket captain Kevin Pietersen admitted in an interview published Sunday that he too had lost money in torn-up contracts with alleged fraudster Allen Stanford.
Pietersen, who did not specify the value of the contracts he had signed with Stanford to be a cricket ambassador, described the Texas financier as a "sleazebag" and said his sponsorship of a tournament involving England made it seem as though "the England team had been sold."

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Friday terminated all contracts with billionaire financier Allen Stanford, the ruling body of the game here said.
The ECB will not be taking part in any further Stanford Twenty20 matches in Antigua or the proposed Stanford-sponsored international quadrangular Twenty20 events in England, the first of which was due to be played at Lord's in May.